| As I write this, I'm caught up in an
exciting new project which involves disassembling computers and reassembling them with Old
Masters. I opened my first studio on April Fools' Day 1946,
in New York City. It was located in an old carriage house on East 40th Street, that had
previously been a church and finally a sculptors studio.
My father was in the antique business and loaned me a Gothic
tapestry, and three suits of 16th century Italian armor mounted on pedestals. The setting
was definitely medieval and I still feel at home as a "medievalist", fighting a
losing battle with the likes of silicon valley.
I spent four years at Brown University as an art major and it was
there that I became a member of the camera club. This was the initial 'spark".
After graduating I enrolled at the New York School of Modern Photography. Irving
Penn was my idol then and still is.
About this time in 1945, I developed a portfolio of experimental
photographs and like the proverbial "fools rush in... ", showed them to Kay
Sullivan, the fashion editor at Town & Country, who graciously gave me my first
commercial assignment - photographing Yul Brenner. Then in rather quick succession came
photo shoots with Myrna Loy, Joan Crawford, et al. (Needless to say there are others who
have made it all possible.
I continued working for Town & Country but gradually
became involved with the advertising world.Two agents kept me busy with prestigious
national accounts.
Meanwhile, I continued to experiment with new techniques and
"pushing the envelope". Eventually, this led to working with collage in
combination with photography. This groundwork occupies me today. As a side note, my
favorite artists are Robert Rauschenberg and Miro, and in photography I am completely
overwhelmed by Sebastiao Salgado.
The creative process is impossible to analyze. I read lots of
'mumbo jumbo" in the art magazines realizing that the critics have a tight grip on
terminology and trends.
I spend a lot of time at the Metropolitan Museum and find my
greatest inspirations there. This interest certainly goes back to years spent with my
father on his buying trips to France and Italy.
I want to credit my son, John, with urging me quite persistently
to get on the web, and to my business partner, Edie Van Breems for her constant support
and enthusiasm.
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